šŸ“šAlone together

AP TOTAL:

Unconfirmed for Arael

The aftermath of an awful night comes with an unexpected recourse.

Characters:Ā Arael, Hazel, Daichi

Warnings:Ā N/A

Wordcount: 1,408

Vibe:Ā good ol hurt/comfort

‘gee zin whats with the angsty stuff lately’ im Going Thru It. anyways

takes place like immedieately after the violet detector plotline’s climax. which i havent written down yet but tldr arael kind of loses her Ā mind and blows up the ruins and also has a cool climactic fight withĀ diana and yukarin or something. she’ll be ok.


Howā€¦ embarrassing.

Arael hadnā€™t even hit the age of majority yet, and sheā€™d already landed herself in a single-person maximum security cell.

So much for breaking the cycle.

The night priorā€¦ was mostly a vast blur. Arael acted out in an undignified and cruel manner, that stinging memory was certainly still there ā€“ but after that other girl managed to calm her downā€¦ it was all just blurry flashes of being restrained and escorted from place to place. She was still able to remember thoughā€¦ despite that other girlā€™s protests, her needless empathyā€¦ the forces who apprehended her werenā€™t as kind.

What a cruel and unforgiving reality.

Arael wasnā€™t super aware of how much time had passed as she was mulling over in thought ā€“ the room she was confined in was filled with the same, unnatural light all the while.

She was aware she could easily bust her way out, either through wormhole or brute force, butā€¦ thatā€™d just cause more problems than she already had.

If anything, Arael was plagued with the thought of what her parents were going to think. Of if theyā€™d even care. Sheā€™d been going about her recent episode of megalomania under their noses thanks to the vast freedoms they provided her, and she went and wasted it all.

Arael just sighed.

It was a bit too much to think about.

Suddenly, over the intercom speaker in the corner of Araelā€™s cell ā€“ a sterile-sounding voice.

ā€œVisitor arrival imminent to cell 44, cell block B.ā€

Oh, goodie. The last thing Arael needed while she was drowning in her own thoughts was for a visitor to push her deeper.

Thoughā€¦ that did beg the question to Arael. Thereā€™s no way any of her parents could make their way into a maximum security facility without ending up behind bars, too.

Who was the visitor?

Arael waited for a moment, before her visitor came into view, being escorted by some prison guards.

Oh, it was Daichi. She was wearing a rather official looking uniform for the Craterlands space program as well, which seemed quite uncharacteristic of her.

ā€œCraterlands authority has received permission from the Stationā€™s government to collect you. Youā€™ll be coming with me.ā€ she said, her voice tinged with a manner of cold sternness that was almost scary to hear from her in particular.

ā€œSeriously? Are you for real?ā€ Arael scoffed ā€“ the thought of getting bailed out so quickly was almost more embarrassing than getting locked up in the first placeā€¦ like it was all a joke.

ā€œDonā€™t make this more difficult than this needs to be.ā€ Daichi replied.

Arael rolled her eyes, and silently followed along. She was handcuffed and escorted through the prisonā€™s corridors alongside Daichi, before ultimately making it outside to a transportation area.

It was raining.

ā€œThank you. Iā€™ll take it from here.ā€ Daichi said to the prison guards, her tone still rigid and formal.

She motioned for Arael to follow her onto an above-surface cruiser ship, and maintained her stern posture until the shipā€™s door fully closed behind themā€¦ which she immediately followed with a roll of her shoulders and a deep groan.

Taking a moment to rub her temples, Daichi grabbed a device from out of her uniformā€™s pocket.

ā€œArael, give me your wrists.ā€

Her voice sounded a lot moreā€¦ normal now, with the tone of familiar softness Arael was used to having returned. But she still soundedā€¦ frustrated.

Arael nodded, and raised her handcuffed wrists up ā€“ to which Daichi responded by lining up the machine to them, and pressing a button on it. The machine fired some kind of electrical charge between the handcuffs, unlocking them.

Arael was a bit shocked, but ultimately shook off her freed hands now that she could.

ā€œYou would not BELIEVE how many strings I had to pull to get to you so fast, jeez.ā€ Daichi sighed.

ā€œI called. And then I had to get Dina to try and back me up. And THEN I had to get HER to call that Tonantzintla character who the stationā€™s higher ups actually LISTENED toā€¦ā€

Araelā€¦ felt bad. From Daichiā€™s tone, she could tell she was sort ofā€¦ trying to make light of it. But the thought of causing so much difficulty after everything sheā€™d already causedā€¦ it didnā€™t sit right.

Still, Daichi put a reassuring hand on Araelā€™s shoulder ā€“ though had an expression of concern on her face.

ā€œWhat didā€¦ you even DO??ā€

Arael avoided eye contact still. As if she wanted someone as kindhearted of Daichi to know the extent of her violence.

There was silence as Arael refused to talk ā€“ but thankfully, she didnā€™t need to. Daichi and herself werenā€™t alone, after all.

ā€œIt was pretty impressive, but a bit of a mouthful to explain.ā€ a familiar voice sounded out from behind a corner in the ship.

Oh no.

ā€œGeez! Way to be sneaky for no reason, Haz. I thought you were in the cockpit, still.ā€ Daichi said, laughing off her initial shock.

ā€œI couldnā€™t help but eavesdrop just a little.ā€ Hazel snickered. It was a display of a side to her Arael had rarely seenā€¦ it was odd.

Arael remained silent, now avoiding any sort of eye contact with Hazel, as well. Out of her parents, Hazel was the one she had really hoped wouldnā€™t initially show up.

Slinking away from the corner, Hazel came to join both Arael and Daichi where they were standing. Arael reserved her posture even more.

ā€œArael.ā€ Hazel started, noticing her daughterā€™s tense stance.

ā€œIā€™m not mad.ā€

Silence. Arael didnā€™t entirely believe her.

ā€œIn fact, I prevented the others from intervening. Iā€™m sure theyā€™ll come to understand why now, butā€¦ā€ Hazel continued, sighing.

ā€œIf anythingā€¦ Iā€™m relieved.ā€

ā€œYouā€™re not making any senseā€¦ā€ Arael mumbled in reply.

Sheā€¦ didnā€™t get it.

Arael, in her own eyes ā€“ and apparently the governmentā€™s, had screwed up to such a colossal degree.

ā€œWe all knew something like this was going to happen eventually.ā€ Hazel said with a shrug.

Bewildered, Arael whirled around to finally face her mother with wide eyes.

ā€œWhatā€¦ what the hellā€™s that supposed to mean?!ā€

ā€œItā€™s hard to know how to control the full extent of oneā€™s power until you unleash it.ā€ Hazel nodded.

ā€œ…The same goes for resentment.ā€

Arael sort of got what Hazel was trying to sayā€¦ she glanced over to Daichi to try and see if her expression had any pointers, but she seemed equally as shocked.

ā€œButā€¦ now that itā€™s happened, we can do things moving forwards to keep it in check a little better.ā€ Hazel continued, turning to Arael with a smile.

ā€œThe others would probably insist otherwise, but I donā€™t think anything could have prevented thisā€¦ butā€¦ thatā€™s OK. We just have to focus on moving on now.ā€

ā€œIā€¦ I see.ā€ Arael mumbled.

She was just trying to process it all. The fact that Hazel of all people not only wasnā€™t upset, but understoodā€¦ it seemed a bit jarring. Butā€¦

ā€œThough Iā€™m not without fault. I couldā€™ve done more, but I distanced myself to try and prevent the inevitableā€¦ā€ Hazel sighed.

ā€œBut, nowā€¦ it can be a new chapter for me as well. Iā€™m sorry thatā€¦ for the past however long, that I havenā€™t been as available as I should have. You donā€™t need to forgive me if you donā€™t want to, Arael ā€“ but if youā€™d be willing to, we can take the next steps together.ā€

Whether voluntary or not, Arael felt her face growing warm and her eyes welling with tears.

A second chanceā€¦ forgivenessā€¦

Hazel smiled, and opened her arms in a welcoming manner.

Araelā€¦ felt like a hug was something she needed right now.

ā€œ…Thatā€™d be cool.ā€ was really all Arael could say in response to Hazelā€™s question.

The two had a heartfelt moment for a small while longer, before Daichi piped up.

ā€œIā€™d hate toā€¦ ruin the moment, but I should probably get the ship moving.ā€

Hazel nodded, and broke the hug ā€“ giving her daughter a pat on the shoulder.

ā€œLetā€™s go home ā€“ I can only assume youā€™re exhausted.ā€ she smiled, before trailing off to follow Daichi.

ā€œAnd hey! On our way back, you should tell me about it, if you want. I imagine it canā€™t be as bad as blowing up half of Ultra Space, or blowing up your own fath-ā€

Hazel was cut off by an annoyed shove from Daichi, which managed to get a laugh out of Arael.

And soā€¦ the onward point to a brighter future began.

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